Week 1 recap: A win is a win

Gotham’s first match of the 2026 NWSL season was a tale of two halves as the Bats ended up with a sensible 1-0 win on the road against one of the league’s newest sides. This match was always going to be a challenge—the Boston Legacy had the element of surprise on their side as they had no film that Gotham could study for tactics (and boy did they surprise). That, coupled with some nasty wind at Gillette Stadium that afternoon, made this match a tough and chippy one. On paper, the Bats got all they could ask for with the full 3 points. But is there more for the Bats to take away from their opening match?

Lineup, substitutions, and positioning

Gotham FC made only two changes from its starting lineup in the NWSL championship nearly 4 months ago, with Katie Lampson (née Stengel) and Savannah McCaskill coming in for Mandy Freeman (injured) and Esther González (likely on minutes restrictions). However, injuries to both right backs on the roster saw Midge Purce filling in, and her absence on the forward line meant attacking midfielder Sarah Schupansky got some of her first minutes there (although in reality, it might’ve actually been Rose Lavelle on the right wing, but we’ll get into that later). Jaedyn Shaw had played decent minutes on the left wing for Gotham coming into this match, so her starting there was not necessarily catastrophic, but it did mean that we didn’t get to see her in her best position at attacking midfield. Finally, Savannah McCaskill played a hybrid 6/8 role that is relatively new for her, so Gotham’s lineup was a little out of sorts in this game.

In the first half, Midge Purce and the rest of the backline did a really good job holding down their positions, as the team limited Boston to just 2 shots in those initial 45 minutes. But the team was still not the high-pressing side that we’re used to seeing in the NWSL, pinned back with only three players having an average position that was past the halfway line while the Bats were busy fighting an aggressive press from Boston. Rose Lavelle was somehow playing wider than Sarah Schupansky and center forward Katie Lampson only connected successfully more than once with one other player. Boston only managed 2 shots but the Bats weren’t that far ahead with their 3 (0.21 xG total). 

At the half, the Bats made their only two substitutions of the match, bringing on Esther and rookie forward Jordynn Dudley for Katie Lampson and Sarah Schupansky. These substitutions (and probably a much-needed regroup during halftime) produced a much more settled Gotham team on the field, and it was in this half that the Bats scored their lone goal of the game. What did Gotham do a better job of in the second half than in the first?

Managing the unexpected

With Boston Legacy being a completely new team, the number of known quantities coming into this match was low. In particular, Bianca St-Georges, who has mostly played on the forward line, started the game at center back, and forward Aïssata Traoré, who’s new to the league, turned out to be a big threat up top. Head coach Juan Carlos Amorós noted that the team was particularly challenged by “a structure that was a bit different defensively,” “difficult to guess personnel,” and “very good mobility [in the midfield].” Let’s see how Gotham managed each of these obstacles.

“A structure that was a bit different defensively”

Boston Legacy played this game with three center backs and two wing-backs, a much more defensive structure than the four-back we usually see in the NWSL. This meant Boston had numbers on their side when defending, which was made up for by their speedy attackers who could dribble or chase the ball up the field on the counterattack. This is a tough combination for any team to manage, and Gotham’s usual strategy of pressing to win the ball high up the pitch was made less effective here because Boston defenders had more passing options than Gotham had attackers pressing. What this meant was the team that we already know to be unproductive around goal had an even more difficult time than usual breaking through and it showed, particularly in the first half of the game. 

In this moment, we see what Gotham does after winning possession of the ball in the middle of the pitch. The Bats try to bring the ball forward through shorter, more controlled passes, but the Boston defense recovers enough to cut off passing options and force Katie Lampson into a longer and less controlled ball forward to Jaedyn Shaw that a Boston player is able to get to first.

A few seconds later, Gotham tries pressing to win the ball back, but Boston is able to easily evade this pressure because of the number of passing options they had.

At halftime, Gotham had to regroup if they wanted to break down this defense. And they did. So what made their goal possible in the second half? The simple answer is a Boston defender gifting them an assist.

The more complicated answer is individual brilliance and defenses lapses allowed Gotham to use the most familiar page of their playbook.

Step 1: Win the ball in an advantageous position on the field.

Lilly Reale intercepts Boston keeper Casey Murphy’s goal kick and is able to place it at the feet of Jaedyn Shaw.

Step 2: Profit.

Individual brilliance from Jaedyn Shaw and Lilly Reale, an almost-connection with Jordynn Dudley, great box movement and positioning from Esther, and the aforementioned gift from Bianca St-Georges meant Gotham finally found the first goal of the season that they’d been looking for.

“Difficult to guess personnel”

As we mentioned earlier, the two big surprises in personnel were Bianca St-Georges playing as a center back and forward Aïssata Traoré making her NWSL debut. The former took care of the problem for the Bats, as she got in foul trouble early, gave Gotham the assist on their goal with her botched clearance, and took herself out of the game with a second yellow card in the 77th minute. She did make things more difficult for Gotham in that she was an extra body on the backline, which we talked about earlier, but ultimately the latter of the two was much more of a problem.

Within the first half hour of the match, Traoré drew a yellow card as Jess Carter was forced into a tactical foul to prevent the speedy striker from getting into a one-on-one situation with goalkeeper AKB.

She also broke away with the ball quite a bit, like in this clip. She chases a long ball from a Boston defender and takes a brilliant touch to create separation from acting right back Midge Purce, who despite being one of the speedier players in the league, is still beat. Gotham is lucky that no one else on Boston had the presence of mind to run into the box—they could’ve been looking at an early deficit.

And then of course there was this scary moment in the 35th minute.

Traore takes a beautiful touch that turns a pretty unassuming aerial cross into Boston’s highest xG chance of the game. Sheesh. She’ll be fun to watch later in the season when it’s not against Gotham.

The important part was Gotham remained disciplined enough to prevent her from actually finding the back of the net and managed to do their job despite not knowing what was coming.

“Very good mobility [in the midfield].”

Gotham head coach Juan Carlos Amorós specifically mentioned that the team was expecting Boston to play with “one holding player with two a bit more offensive” but that “the three midfielders did a really good job, playing at different heights.” Playing with a 6, and 8, and a 10 (instead of two 10s) meant that the midfielders only added to the already imposing defensive structure that Gotham was seeking to break down. In particular, defensive midfielder Annie Karich ran the show, with the most completed passes on her team and the third-highest pass completion rate in the game (behind only Gotham center back Jess Carter and Boston substitute Fauzia Najjemba). She also ranked second in the game in successful tackles (with zero unsuccessful ones) and third in ball recoveries. So she was good at winning the ball and making sure it stayed with her team. How did Gotham adjust to account for this?

Although Gotham had fewer passes in the second half (a lot of this is due to gamestate, as the Bats no longer needed a goal for 35 of the 45 minutes), they took on a more expansive shape. What this meant was the midfielders were further apart vertically and therefore more suited to answering the problems that a 6-8-10 midfield posed. Savannah McCaskill playing slightly higher up the pitch than Jaelin Howell allowed for more natural ball progression in the midfield, and Gotham’s passes were suddenly a lot less concentrated on the defensive side of the team than they were in the first half.

Stellar performances from Gotham’s younger players

Esther González scored a goal and AKB and the center backs earned a clean sheet, but the players who stole the show in our opinion were left winger Jaedyn Shaw, left back Lilly Reale, and forward Jordynn Dudley. All three of them were huge contributors to the buildup to Gotham’s lone goal, but that wasn’t the only time they stood out on the field.

As we mentioned earlier, Gotham had quite a bit of trouble breaking through Boston’s tight defense. A big contributor to eventually breaking through was Jaedyn Shaw’s ability to navigate tight spaces and still come away with the ball. We saw it here in this moment in the first half…

And of course in the buildup to Gotham’s goal.

Lilly Reale impressed in her ability, in her own words, to “go forward and attack and then just provide some crosses (for) runners go in and finish.” We saw a perfect example of that in the lead up to Gotham’s goal.

But that wasn’t the only way she contributed to the team’s attack. Perhaps Gotham’s best chance of the first half came off of a perfectly placed long ball over the top from Reale. 

In the end, Katie Lampson wasn’t able to get to the ball before Boston goalkeeper Casey Murphy did, but if she had it would’ve surely resulted in an early goal for the Bats.

Finally, in this match we got to see the much-anticipated Jordynn Dudley play her first minutes for the Bats after being sidelined with injury in the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup in January. Here’s what we learned about her in her first 45 in black and sky blue.

She slots right into Gotham’s high press

Yessss working with her teammates to force turnovers!

She can create chances for herself and others

We see an effortless ball to Lavelle to put her teammate through on goal.

Sure this gets saved in the end, but she managed to create the highest xG chance of the night with how many green shirts around her??

She can draw fouls?

In her 45 minutes on the field, Dudley drew 5 fouls and 3 yellows (and absorbed a lot more contact). We’d put good money on this being more of a Boston problem but seems like we’ll have to wait and see.

Looking ahead to next match

Gotham next plays the North Carolina Courage in their home opener at Sports Illustrated Stadium on Saturday, March 21st at 6:30 PM ET, broadcast on ION. The Courage are coming off of a 2-1 win in their own home opener, aided by a brace from attacking midfielder Ashley Sanchez. Gotham’s last matchup against this team ended in a 3-2 loss on decision day where the Bats came back from a three-goal deficit to add two of their own to the tally. The Courage’s biggest moves over the offseason include acquiring goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan and striker Ally Schlegel. We don’t expect to see the team’s most prolific goalscorer in 2025, Manaka Matsukubo, because of her participation in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup final with Japan. However, Ashley Sanchez showed that there is still much to fear from the team, so Gotham’s defense needs to stay disciplined.

Thumbnail courtesy of Gotham FC.